The Byzantine Church of Agioi Taxiarches is the Metropolitan Church of Ermioni.  Located near the top of Pronos Hill in the Old Village, the church was originally constructed in the 9th century AD and reconstructed and expanded in the 17th century.  The name Taxiarches is Greek for Archangels, with its two prominant patron archangels being Michael and Gabriel.  Agioi Taxiarches was built over the foundation ruins of the ancient temple sanctuary of Demeter Chthonia, as described by the 2nd century AD Greco-Roman traveller Pausanias.  Demeter was the ancient goddess of agriculture, grain, harvest and fertility, being one of the twelve original Olympians.  The ancient temple, and the original Byzantine church, was surrounded by large Hellenistic-style city walls, with some large stone blocks still in place. 

It was in the church of Agioi Taxiarches that the proxies of the Third National Assembly of Greece took their oath in 1827, during the Greek War of Independence, following a meeting at the nearby Economou Residence, which today is the History and Folklore Museum of Ermioni (ILME).  The church is the starting point for many of the celebrations and festivals throughout the year, where the proccessions wind their way down to the war monument at the Limani port.  Agioi Taxiarches is host to the annual festivals of the Epiphany (6th January), Independence Day (25th March), 'OXI' Day (28th October) and local Taxiarches Day (8th November).

                    Pre-2015 Eastern Exterior                                         Agioi Taxiarches Interior                               Western Entrance and Bell Tower

Recent renovations of the Agioi Taxiarches church exposed the original exterior medieval Byzantine stonework, which were completed by mid-April 2016.  However, interior excavations uncovered the foundations of the ancient Demeter Chthonia temple sanctuary.  With this, the western part of the church was closed off to worshipers for a further ten years, whilst archeologists carried out underfloor excavations, surveys and plans, which were completed in April 2026, in time for the Orthodox Holy Week and Easter.

The blue lines above show the perimeter of the 12 x 6 outer columns and the interior sanctuary plan of the ancient Doric temple of Demeter Chthonia in Ermioni.  Being approximately 40m x 20m in size, it was larger than the 5th century BC temple of Poseidon on the Bisti peninsula of Hermione, and twice the size of the present Byzantine church of Agioi Taxiarches.  The image above right, highlights some of the larger ancient stone blocks used in the construction of the present Byzantine church and surrounding walls.

The present resident priest of Agioi Taxiarches is Papa Ioannis Ampelas